Pilot

The pilot and series premiere of Matlock aired as a sneak peek on September 22, 2024 before its timeslot release in October.

Synopsis

After achieving success in her younger years, brilliant septuagenarian Madeline Matlock uses her unassuming demeanor to make her way into a position at a prestigious law firm, Jacobson Moore.

Plot

Matty manages to bypass security and sneak into Jacobson Moore to stand in on a morning meeting with the rest of the law firm's staff. After revealing the true ceiling for the settle amount on one of their cases and instantly making the firm $4 million richer, managing partner Senior grants her a two-week trial as a junior associate under Olympia.

Cast

Main

• Kathy Bates as Madeline 'Matty' Matlock / Madeline Kingston
• Skye P. Marshall as Olympia Lawrence
• Jason Ritter as Julian Markston
• David Del Rio as Billy Martinez
• Leah Lewis as Sarah Franklin

Guest starring

• Eme Ikwuakor as Elijah Walker
• Colleen Camp as Sherleen
• Nicole De Boer as Carlin
• Aaron D. Harris as Alfie Kingston
• Sam Anderson as Edwin Kingston
• Beau Bridges as Howard 'Senior' Markston

Co-starring

• Rothaford Gray as Raymond Harris
• Natasha Mumba as Jordan Harris
• Matt Baram as Tom Smith
• Paulino Nunes as Judge Mauricio Cortez
• Bill Lake as Lloyd Ferguson
• Daveed Louza as Big Vinnie
• Marcus Rosner as Vintage Tom Cruise
• Emma Nelles as Nice Girl
• Wilex Ly as Harvard Grad
• Helen Hayden as Kristine
• Mike Chow as Foreman
• Helly Chester as Executive Assistant
• Michael Chan as Uniformed Driver
• Carson Durven as Bus Driver
• Frida Banks as Barista

Quotes

I always say negotiations are an art... and a trap.

Madeline Matlock

Howard Markston

Tell me, Ms. Matlock, why do you want to work at my firm?

Madeline Matlock

There's a time in life when you make decisions based on what you think is right, and there's a time when you make decisions based on money. I did what was right all my life, and now I need to make it rain, so point me to a case and put me to work.

Madeline Matlock

Well, the firm isn't gonna pump money into a pro bono case.

Billy Martinez

Well, ideally, this isn't pro bono. It's a test case. Olympia got burned out after defending Big Pharma.

Madeline Matlock

Oh, Big Parma, big money. That's where I want to be.

Madeline Matlock (confused)

So what do you mean this is a test case?

Billy Martinez

Well, if Raymond gets a number higher than the national average, then the firm takes a cut. So Olympia's argument to him is that she can get a much higher number. And the argument to the firm is that social justice can mean real money. So you can do good and do well. That's the noble version, anyway.

Madeline Matlock (amused)

What's the non-noble version?

Sarah Franklin

She's figuring out yet another way to monetize misfortune because she's a freaking genius.

Trivia

• Throughout the episode, Sarah and Billy make several pop culture references from around the time of or related to the original Matlock series:
  • Perry Mason (1957), a legal drama series originally broadcast on CBS. Dean Hargrove was the creator of the original Matlock and a series of Perry Mason television films that were released in 1985.
  • MacGyver (1985), an action-adventure series broadcast on ABC.
  • Dame Angela Lansbury, a British-American actress well-known for her role as amateur sleuth Jessica Fletcher in the CBS crime drama series Murder, She Wrote (1984).
• At the end of the episode, Billy is playing the original Matlock theme on his phone. The episode also closes out with a rendition of the same theme.

Gallery

Stills

Screenshots